The Kartik Swami Trek is a short 3 KM trek from a village called Kanachauri to the temple dedicated to Kartikeya, son of Shiva at a hilltop slightly higher than 3000 metres. It is a good complementary trek with Chopta-Tungnath or Kedarnath.

Trek to Anusuya Devi Temple and Atri Muni Falls starts from Mandal Village, which is around 13 KMs from Gopeshwar, on the road going towards Chopta-Tungnath. Gopeshwar is 211 KMs from Rishikesh via Rudraprayag, Karnaprayag, and Chamoli.

The usual Valley of Flowers route is Haridwar-Rishikesh-Rudraprayag-Chamoli-Joshimath-Govindghat and then trek to Ghangaria where you stay the night. The next day trek to VoF & come back. Hemkund Sahib is another route from Ghangaria and will take another day. Budget travellers can do it for INR 3000-4000 from Delhi.

A sudden snowfall on a March evening in Chopta & crystal clear views fo Chaukhamba the next morning made the trip worthwhile. Both pink and red rhododendrons (burnash) were in full bloom, showing why spring is considered to be the best season for Chopta.

Many trivial issues threatened the trek but in the end Dayara Bugyal turned out to be a simple day-trek. Reaching the starting point was a bigger problem than the actual trek. The weather also kept throwing hailstones but it was never heavy enough.

Beatles Ashram (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Ashram) in Rishikesh is the place where The Beatles spent several months, composed many songs, and explored spirituality. It was later abandoned and forgotten for three decades. However, Beatlemaniac artists kept sneaking in and painting the walls.

It was foggy and cold but the exhaustion went away the moment we caught a glimpse of the emerald green lake by the side of the Gurudwara Hemkund Sahib. On all other side’s, it is closely guarded by steep mountains.